Hiss—!
Latonia—the Cyborg Woman—gasped sharply, eyes wide in disbelief.
Was this a joke!?
He was completely unscathed!
Not a scratch!
How could that even be possible?
Even Diana—Wonder Woman herself, a demigod—wouldn't have come out of that explosion unharmed.
But this guy…
He'd tanked it like it was nothing.
Latonia's heart trembled violently.
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would've believed such a thing could happen.
> "Homelander, listen—"
Zzzt!
Alex didn't bother to let her finish.
Twin beams of blazing red light erupted from his eyes, searing through the air—
Heat vision.
The legendary laser eyes!
Latonia's face hardened instantly.
She twisted her body, jet boosters roaring to life as she shot sideways.
But she was still a fraction too slow.
Her entire right arm was sliced clean off at the shoulder.
> "Aaaah—!!"
Her scream echoed through the hall.
Her expression twisted in pain and terror.
Monster.
He was a total monster.
Homelander wasn't human—he couldn't be.
Before today, Latonia would've laughed at anyone who claimed someone could surpass Diana.
Now, she was face-to-face with one.
But at least… she could fly.
If she couldn't win, she could run.
Thank God.
THUMP!
Alex's lips curved into a cold, contemptuous smile.
He raised one hand—
—and the air itself seemed to twist.
Latonia's body froze mid-flight, slammed violently backward,
as if she'd just crashed into an invisible wall.
> "W-What—what's happening!?"
She stared ahead, stunned, panic spreading like wildfire through her circuits.
There was no doubt.
It was him.
Homelander.
Her wide, terrified eyes darted toward Alex.
And sure enough—
He was standing there below, one arm raised,
making a slow, deliberate gripping motion with his fist.
Her heart dropped.
A dreadful premonition rose from deep within her gut.
> "No—!"
BOOM!
The telekinetic force crushed inward.
In an instant, Latonia's mechanical body folded, buckled—
and exploded into a spray of mangled metal and blood.
Nothing left but scrap.
---
> "Wh-What… what kind of…"
> "What kind of monster is he!?"
Monica's voice trembled violently as she lay sprawled on the ground,
her entire body shaking uncontrollably.
Cold sweat soaked her forehead and spine.
Her eyes were filled with naked terror.
She was staring at Alex as if watching a prehistoric beast crawl out of a nightmare.
Latonia had been one of the Crime Company's elite—
as powerful as the Silver Swan,
and one of the only enhanced soldiers capable of flight.
Her mobility made her far more dangerous than giants like Giganta—
and far harder to pin down.
A top-tier combatant.
And yet…
This "Homelander" had annihilated her in less than a minute.
Crushed her like nothing.
> "H-Homelander, wait! Listen to me!"
Monica's voice quivered, on the verge of tears.
> "There's no need for this to end in bloodshed! We don't have to be enemies—"
Her words came out between terrified gasps.
Her body was trembling so hard she could barely speak.
Alex's answer was a faint, cold smile.
Then—
Whoosh!
A shadow dropped down from above, landing lightly on one knee.
A black cape unfurled in the dim light.
> "Homelander, don't kill her!"
A calm, familiar voice.
Batman.
---
Ever since Alex had come to Gotham,
he'd crossed paths with the Dark Knight far more often than with Bruce Wayne himself.
> "Batman."
Alex's lips curled in a mocking smirk.
> "Haven't I beaten you enough times already?
Still haven't learned that my business… isn't yours to meddle in?"
> "No, Homelander."
"This time is different."
Batman's tone was steady, his face solemn beneath the cowl.
> "Aside from you, Gotham has never seen anything like them."
"I need to know why they're here—and who sent them."
"It's important."
Normally, he wouldn't care about another super-powered brawl.
But this time, these weren't just crooks—
They were super-soldiers.
Foreign ones.
As Gotham's self-appointed guardian, he couldn't ignore that.
Alex nodded slowly.
> "That's… a reason I can respect."
Batman and Monica both exhaled in relief.
Crack!
In the next instant, Alex extended his hand.
Invisible force twisted—
—and Monica's neck snapped like a twig.
Her eyes widened, frozen in disbelief.
Even as she died, she couldn't comprehend it—
He'd just agreed to let her live… hadn't he?
Batman froze for half a second.
> "Homelander—you!"
He glared furiously at Alex.
Alex's gaze remained calm, indifferent.
> "Normally, your problems have nothing to do with me. I couldn't care less."
"But since Bruce Wayne helped me find those fragments…"
He paused, then shrugged lightly.
> "I'll tell you what you want to know."
Batman exhaled again, forcing himself to stay composed.
> "Who were they?"
> "Members of the Crime Company," Alex said simply.
"Their target was Diana."
He relayed the core information,
but left out their names—partly because he didn't care enough to remember them.
He vaguely recalled the cyborg woman;
she'd been a minor character who vanished from DC history due to low popularity.
As for Monica?
Total background filler.
> "Crime Company," Batman repeated quietly.
"Is that a codename—or an actual organization?"
> "A name," Alex replied.
Batman nodded once.
That was enough.
A name like that, combined with its conflict against Wonder Woman—
it wouldn't be hard to dig up.
Zip—!
The grappling gun fired, pulling Batman upward into the night.
He didn't try to fight Alex this time.
By now, he'd learned better.
There was only one viable strategy when it came to Homelander:
Get him out of Gotham.
Before the city paid the price.
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